8 October 2015

Temples of Ipoh

Tourists come to Ipoh, if they do at all, for the food for which the town has a (rather inflated) reputation. That does not mean there are not other things to do and see in town if you know where to look. Ipoh is a
predominantly Chinese town and as such we have a lot of temples. Some of them are quite modest, a small
building near the main road but some are built into the cliffs in the limestone
hills that proliferate in this region and they are truly spectacular. A few weeks ago, during my father’s visit, we
drove down to the temples behind the Pomelo Stall on the Gopeng road.

Ling Sen Tong - a riot of colour

We had seen these
temples from the car during our house hunting expedition back in March and had
been meaning to go and explore them for some time. The street behind the stall boasts three
popular temples. We visited two, the
Ling Sen Tong temple and the Sam Poh Tong temple.

Guardian at the gate

And creatures from mythology

Ling Sen Tong is a Buddhist
temple whose name, I am told means something along the lines of Heavenly Spirit
Rock and it is a riot of colour Walking
up to the entrance you are greeted by a pair of rainbow hued dragons, and then,
once through the gates, to a courtyard packed full of mythical creatures such
as the Monkey King and, behind grilles, the animals of the zodiac. The temple inside the cave is well used and
the temple appears to attract the devout every bit as much as the tourists.

The sculptures are set in a garden

But the main temple is set into the rock

Walking along the
road we passed Nam Then Tong, a taoist temple which is, apparently, one of the
oldest in the city. We did not go in,
however, as although I am sure it was open it did not look too busy and we did
not want to disturb the caretaker.

The complex is extensive - yet more gardens

Nam Then Tong - quieter than the others

The final temple we
came to was the Sam Poh Tong temple which, other than the Perak Cave Temple
further to the north of the city, is probably the best known of all Ipoh’s
temples. It was built just over 100
years ago and, like Ling Sen Tong is a Buddhist temple. We were told that the name meant cave of the
three gems.

Entrance to Sam Poh Tong

The gardens are very tranquil and a pleasant place for a stroll

The pond is home to beautiful fish

At the entrance to
the temple you are greeted by a lady selling kangkong vegetables for the resident tortoises. A big bunch sells for
RM2. You can buy a bunch of the same
size for half the price in the main temple but the lady is pleasant and
knowledgeable about the temple and its attractions and worth taking the time to
talk to. We took some time to walk
around the gardens which are very much worth a look (they won the Malaysian
Garden of the Year 1993 Award!). It does
appear to be stuck in time, wondering through and watching the fish swim in the
ponds we could have been in just about any time, 2015, 1993 or many, many years
before. The gardens were tranquil and a
haven from the hustle and bustle of the city centre.

There is shelter from the rain or hot sun

The cave entrance - the cave itself is quite small

The cave itself is
quite small, high but narrow in most places but it does appear to
attract worshippers on a regular basis as the walls are black with soot.

Visitors walk through the gardens to get to the temple

Where they are welcomed by the resident dog.

We walked through the cave to a garden beyond
which is completely surrounded by the hills such that the only entrance is
through the temple itself. The garden had
the potential to be a bit of a hidden Eden (or whatever the Buddhist equivalent
is) but it was, sadly, full of mosquitoes which goes some way to explain why
the temple sells mosquito repellent along with votive offerings and kangkong
for the tortoises. There were places to
sit and admire the large pagoda built against the stunning backdrop of the
hills but it was not possible to go in and look around.I am not sure whether this building is
actually used any more.

The temple is very active

Walk through and you come to a secret garden

The main attraction
for the children was the tortoise pond.
Armed with their vegetables they leaned over and tried to attract some
of the animals towards them. The tortoises
seemed quite keen on the food and the ones nearest us crawled over. The animals are truly engaging but I must
admit that I felt rather sorry for them as the pond is packed and they could do
with some cleaner water.

Tortoises vie for kangkong

The pond is packed - we stopped counting at 100

The visit was a
complete spur of the moment trip but I am very glad we went despite the haze, which has blighted the last month or so and I am looking
forward to exploring some of the other temples hidden around Ipoh.

This pagoda is completely hidden,
only accessible via the temple.

Heading back through the cave

The complex boasts a vegetarian restaurant
if meat free is to your taste...

Added to the Expat Family Link Up run by Seychelles Mama - click for more interesting Expat Insights!

What a beautiful place but I too find the tortoise pond a sad and perhaps unnecessary addition. The haze and what it is caused by is also a cause for concern but neither of these detract from the beauty of the site. #myexpatfamily

Yes the pond is a shame. The 'liberation ponds' are quite a feature of Buddhist temples in the region as people release the animals into the ponds to gain merit. It started out as a nice thing to do, releasing animals which would otherwise suffer or be eaten to a better life but like so many good ideas it has gone wrong over the years.

You can buy turtles and tortoises for this purpose in some shops. I know that a lot of animal groups are campaigning to raise awareness of the issue.

About Me

I am a no longer 30 something global soul, a perpetual expat. I was born in the Netherlands to a Dutch/Irish Family. Since then I have lived in Norway, Nigeria, Turkey and Venezuela. I went to school and university in the UK. We decided to have an adventure and took our children and the dog(s) to live abroad, first to Kazakhstan and then to various locations in Malaysia. Our current home is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
This blog is about how we muddle through daily life as expats and how things have changed from the adventures of my childhood.